They need to feel feminine and protected, explains Rena Maycock, a director of the Dublin-based Intro Match-Making agency.

“It’s a genetic thing that may even go back to primitive times when men were larger and hunter/gatherers,” she says.

RAISED on fairytales in which tall, dashing princes gallop to the aid of maidens in distress, women assume the perfect date must tower above them — but suppose the guy who adores you is eyeball to your shoulder?

According to the dating experts, he may be in for a disappointment — women, it seems, yearn primarily after tall, well-built men.

Not only was Feargal below Rena’s self-imposed 6ft height restriction, on the night in question, she literally towered over him — her glamorous four-inch heels brought her to 6ft 2in.

But one night in 2010 she found herself in a bar chatting to Feargal Harrington, the 5ft 10in man she will wed next June.

A range of options were being considered including an Independent News and Media (INM) "link" with the Irish Examiner.

Reflecting a changing trend in newspaper sales, the Examiner markets to advertisers on the basis of its print and online audience, stating in 2017 that "236,000 people read the Irish Examiner in print or online every day".

Cussen says normal rules don’t apply in these cases.

Wealth, status, power and confidence, she believes, can change a woman’s attitude. “If a man’s status is very high, it will compensate for his height if he’s smaller than the woman.

If a man is very successful in his career it gives him confidence and it will make him more attractive to a woman.